GENERAL COMMENTS:
Besides the feeder cattle market's decision to power through the day despite it being a Monday on a holiday-shortened week, both the live cattle and lean hog markets closed lower. The markets will be open tomorrow until 1:05 pm Eastern, so DTN will provide regular commentary, but no USDA reports will be available. March corn is up 1 1/2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $4.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 66.69 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex rounded out the day mixed as traders were skeptical of overly supporting the market following last week's trend of a lower decline. December live cattle closed $0.35 lower at $190.97, February live cattle closed $0.95 lower at $187.45 and April live cattle closed $0.42 lower at $189.70. Unfortunately, today's lackluster mindset kept the spot February contract below its 40-day moving average as the market didn't feel empowered enough to climb above that threshold at this point. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day and trade is likely delayed until after Christmas. New showlists for the week are lighter in Texas and Kansas, but slightly higher in Nebraska and Colorado. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 118,000 head -- steady with a week ago and incomparable to a year ago.
Last week Northern dressed cattle sold in a wide range from $302 to $315, but most of the transactions happened at $305, which is $2.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded at mostly $191, which is fully steady with the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 49,864 head. Of that, 61% (30,544 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 39% (19,320 head) were committed to the deferred delivery.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $0.13 ($315.98) and select up $0.84 ($286.75) with a movement of 114 loads (66.33 loads of choice, 20.60 loads of select, 13.50 loads of trim and 13.97 loads of ground beef).
TUESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. Even though it's a holiday week, with packers only buying 49,000 head in last week's market it's likely that they'll have to be active participants again in this week's market in order to avoid being short bought.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Although the live cattle complex was sheepish throughout the day, the feeder cattle contracts powered through Monday's market and successfully rounded out the day higher. January feeders closed $1.00 higher at $256.60, March feeders closed $0.17 higher at $256.00 and April feeders closed $0.02 higher at $256.77. Traders likely viewed the lighter placements on Friday's Cattle on Feed report as a bullish factor which helped move the market higher throughout Monday's trade. Most sale barns are closed until after the New Year holiday. The CME feeder cattle index 12/20/2024: up $0.85, $263.00.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex again fell lower as trader support simply wasn't available in today's market. February lean hogs closed $1.55 lower at $84.37, April lean hogs closed $0.90 lower at $89.62 and June lean hogs closed $0.80 lower at $101.30. It was surprising to see packers buying as aggressively as they did in today's cash market as they purchased right over 6,000 head. But pork cutout values dipped lower as the bell along fell $9.35 and the rib closed $4.44 lower. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $2.61 with a weighted average price of $79.56 on 6,262 head. Pork cutouts totaled 301.50 loads with 264.25 loads of pork cuts and 37.25 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.66, $94.62. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 490,000 head -- 3,000 head less than a week ago and incomparable to a year ago. The CME lean hog index 12/19/2024: up $0.14, $84.35.
TUESDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. Given that it will be Christmas Eve, it's likely that packers won't be very aggressive in Tuesday's cash hog market.
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